December | 2011 | Russkiy Hockey

Full name: Semyon Aleksandrovich Varlamov
Team: Colorado Avalanche
Number: 1
Position: Goaltender
Height: 6’2”/189 cm
Weight: 209 lbs/95 kg
Catches: Left
Born: April 27, 1988 in Samara, RUS
Drafted: Selected by the Washington Capitals in the 1^st round (23^rd overall) of the 2006 Entry Draft

Strengths: Varlamov is a prototypical butterfly-style goaltender with excellent reflexes, flexibility, and size. Varlamov has a very good save percentage early into his NHL career and is developing into a long-term no. 1 goaltender.

Weaknesses: Injuries and inconsistency had prevented Varlamov from playing a full NHL season until his fourth season. Varlamov’s puckhandling skills are his main weakness.

Biography: Semyon Varlamov was born in Samara (then still known as Kuybyshev) – an industrial city on the Volga. After moving to Yaroslavl, a city further up the Volga, Varlamov developed into the best goalie prospect in his age group with the Lokomotiv hockey organization. Playing his way through the farm league, Varlamov debuted in the Superleague at the age of 18 and quickly became Lokomotiv’s number one goaltender. In 2007, Varlamov was Russia’s goaltender at the World Junior Championship and helped the team to a silver medal finish. Even before then, he was already drafted by the Washington Capitals and had good NHL potential. After two successful seasons in the Superleague, Semyon came to North America to play for Washington’s farm club. Throughout the regular season of 2008-09, he was called up to the big club a few times and proved to be effective, winning 4 of 6 games. The average play of Capitals starting goalie Jose Theodore prompted the club to entrust Varlamov with the goaltending duties for the playoffs. Varlamov was excellent, registering two shutouts in the first round against the Rangers. The Capitals were ultimately eliminated by the Penguins in game 7 of the second round, but Varlamov had left his mark as the team’s prospective no. 1 starter. Semyon continued collecting victories in the next season, but an injury two months in forced him to undergo a conditioning stint with the farm club. Varlamov regained his position towards the end of the season, but the Capitals only lasted one playoff round. In 2010, Varlamov was named to Russia’s Olympic team, but did not see any ice time. Semyon’s chance to shine for the national team came at the 2010 World Championship, where he went undefeated until Russia’s tight loss to the Czechs in the final. Semyon spent his third NHL season mostly as the backup to fellow young goalie Michal Neuvirth. However, Varlamov was selected to start in the 2011 Winter Classic outdoor game against the Penguins. In Washington, Varlamov was one of three Russians, along with Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin, to have a strong fan following. He even starred in a humorous ad with Ovechkin. In the 2011 off-season, the Capitals decided to go in a different direction with their goaltending and traded Varlamov to the Colorado Avalanche. In Colorado, Varlamov is starting in a lot more games than he did in Washington, but also has a more fragile and younger team in front of him. In 2012, Varlamov once again was the main goaltender for Russia at the World Championship. This time, Varlamov won all 8 games that he started, including the gold-medal final. For the duration of the 2012-13 NHL lockout, Varlamov returned to play for the club that developed him, Lokomotiv, and put up outstanding numbers.

Club Stats:

Season	Team	GP	W	L	T	OL	GAA	Save %	SO
2004-05	Lokomotiv-2 Yaroslavl (RHL-3)	8					2.43		1
2005-06	Lokomotiv-2 Yaroslavl (RHL-3)	33					2.02		8
2006-07	Lokomotiv-2 Yaroslavl (RHL-3)	2					1.50		0
2006-07	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	33					2.17		3
2007-08	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	44					2.45		3
2008-09	Hershey (AHL)	27	19	7	1		2.40	92.0	2
2008-09	Washington	6	4	0		1	2.37	91.8	0
2009-10	Hershey (AHL)	3	3	0	0		1.95	93.3	0
2009-10	Washington	26	15	4		6	2.55	90.9	2
2010-11	Hershey (AHL)	3	2	1	0		3.36	85.5	0
2010-11	Washington	27	11	9		5	2.23	92.4	2
2011-12	Colorado	53	26	24		3	2.59	91.3	4
2012-13	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	16	8	4		3	1.74	94.6	3
2012-13	Colorado	35	11	21		3	3.02	90.3	3

Totals	RHL/KHL Reg. Season	77					2.23		6
Totals	RHL Playoffs	22					2.00		5
Totals	NHL Reg. Season	147	67	58		18	2.61	91.2	11
Totals	NHL Playoffs	19	10	9			2.49	91.5	2

National Team Stats:

Year	Tournament	GP	W	L	T	GAA	SO
2005	World U18	2	2	0	0	3.52	0
2005	World U18	2	2	0	0	2.50	0
2006	World U20	1	1	0	0	1.00	0
2007	World U20	6	5	1	0	1.51	2
2010	Olympic Games	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010	World Championship	5	4	1	0	1.41	1
2012	World Championship	8	8	0	0	1.77	1
2013	World Championship	4	2	1	0	3.59	0

Totals	U18 Level	4	4	0	0	3.01	0
Totals	U20 Level	7	6	1	0	1.44	2
Totals	Senior Level	17	14	2	0	2.09	2